Telephone-switch-plug mechanism.



PATENTED FEB. 13, 1906.

A. O. GILGEN. TELEPHONE SWITCH PLUG MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 25, 1904.

UNITED STATES PATENT orries.

ADOLPH O. GILGEN, OF PASSAIO, NEW JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE NEW YORKAUTOMATIC TELEPHONE COMPANY, OF PATERSON, NEWV JER- SEY, A CORPORATION'OF NEW JERSEY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Feb. 13, 1906.

Application filed November 25,1904. Serial No. 234,139.

To a wlumt it may concern.-

Be it known that I, ADoLPH O. GILGEN, a citizen of the United States,residing at Passaic, in the county of Passaic and State of New Jersey,have invented a certain new and useful Improvement in Telephone-Switch-Plug Mechanism, of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to intercommunicating telephone systems, and moreparticularly to the switch-plug mechanism through which communicationwith the desired stations is established.

The object of the invention is to provide a switch-plug mechanism simplein' construction and inexpensive to manufacture, in which the contactsshall be automatically kept bright and clean, which shall be freelyaccessible for inspection and repairs, and which shall be automaticallyreset by the movement of the receiver-hook or similar switch.

The invention. consists in certain novel features and arrangements ofparts and in certain details of construction by which the above objectsare attained, to be hereinafter described.

The accompanying drawings form a part of this specification and show anapproved manner of carrying out the invention. I

Figure 1 is a face or front view of a telephone box equipped with theimproved switch mechanism; and Fig. 2 is an interior elevation of thesame as seen from the rear, the body of the box appearing in verticalsection. Fig. 3 is an elevation corresponding to a portion of Fig. 2,but showing the plugs and their contacts alone and on a larger scale.

Fig. 4 is a corresponding horizontal section,

including a portion of the box upon which the mechanism is mounted. Fig.5 is a horizontal section and plan view, on a still larger scale,showing the action of one of the plugs and its contacts; and Fig. 6 is acorresponding section on the line 6 6 in Fig. 5.

Similar letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

A is an ordinary telephone-box having a hinged door A and equipped witha transmitter B of any approved construction, a bell O, and buzzer D. Areceiver-hook E is pivoted to the side wall of the box and extendsthrough a slot in the opposite wall, where it is l the body and head,respectively. The inner bifurcated, as usual, to support the receiver E.A spring A tends to elevate the hook, as usual, when relieved of theweight of the receiver.

The switch-plug mechanism is mounted on the door A, the latter, with thestrips M M and metal ends 1 3 M joining them, forming a casing thereforopen on the interior of the box. On each side of a central strip M ofless depth are a series of holes (1, extending through the door, and aplate A thereon, in which are loosely received the plugs N. Ten areshown, five in each series, but the number may be greater or less. Allare alike, and a detailed description of one will suffice. The body N ofthe plug is preferably cylindrical and is guided and supported at theouter end in the plate A. The end protrudes a short distance and isrounded to offer a convenient surface for the finger in pushing the pluginwardly to establish communication with the corresponding station inthe circuit. The inner end or head N is also cylindrical and terminatesin a conical point or end N Between the portions N and N the plug is ofsmaller diameter, forming a neck N and two annular shoulders i 4 N atthe junction with end of the plug is guided in a notch m in a metalstrip M secured one on each side to the central strip 1 matching to andreceiving the neck i 3 and limiting the endwise movement of the plug inboth directions by contacting alternately with the shoulders,whilepermitting the inner end to be moved away from the central strip.The plug thus loosely mounted is held in the notch by the action of acontact-spring P against its inner end. The spring may be one of aseries of similar springs formed of a single piece of metal securedbeneath the strip M, electrically connected to the metal ends 1W oiningthe ends of the wood strips M M and M and serving as a means forattaching the strips to the interior face of the door.

The contact-spring P inclines toward its plug and carries on its freeend an angular shoulder P, terminating in a reversely-extending flattooth or contact-point P adapted when forced outwardly by the plug tomake a sliding orwiping contactwith itsadjacent contact-clip R, formingone of a series of clips mounted on the strip M.

The coaction of the shoulder P and the annular angular shoulder at thejunction of the conical end N and head N is an important feature of theinvention. These parts are so proportioned relatively to the axialmovement permitted by the notch m that when.

pushing the plug inwardly the spring P is. forced toward its clip bytheaction-of the: conical end N upon the shoulder P until at:

the completion of the inward movementthe shoulder P rides over theangular shoulder on the head N and lies against the cylindrical portionthereof, as indicated at the left in Fig. 4 and in the full lines ofFig. -5, still acting in the direction to maintain'the neck N in itsnotch and holding theplug frictionally a 'ainst endwise movement.

tion thus made. I

It will be'n'oted'that the plugs are held in ,placein both positions bythe yielding-force of the contact-springs alone, requiring "but fewparts, and thuspermitting highly economical construction, and the opencharacter of the casing allowsfree access to all the parts when the doorA of thebox is swung open. The plugs are inexpensively 'made from rodsof the proper diameter, and the contact-springs and clips are struckfrom sheetmetal by suitable dies.

The plugs are retracted by thea'ction of the shoulder P on the conicalend N but-it is necessary to initiate such action by moving the plugaxially far enough to bring the an ular shoulder on the head N un'derthein uence of the shoulder? andpermit it to'act camwise onthe conical end.Thisis effected by two r'es'etb'ars S,'on'e for each -row of plugs,mounted 'between the rows. Each consists of a bar 0r strip 'ofm'et'alextending: parallel with the strip M andab'ove or bey'on'dthe metalstrip 1M thereon 'a'n'dpivoted. at each end at s in the metalendsM M of,the casing in such-relation to" the heads 1 afs' to be turned therebyinto a positi'on'in'whi'ch the edge of the reset b'ar'willprojectb'eyond the edge of'themetal ends when either plug; of a seriesis pushed inwardly and adapted when partially revolved onitspivots stoward the plugs to strike any of the heads pre-i sented in its path andforce them toward l their contact-springsP partially out of their;notches m and also axially outward suliil ciently to permit theshoulders Pto act and? complete the resetting movement.

This par-i tial revolution toward the heads is'producedi by a curvedspring secured transversely of the receiver-hook E, forming two spring-Jarms E 13 riding at their free ends upon the In this position. 0 theparts the contact-point P has been; slid along on the edge of its'clipand connec edges of the metal ends M When the receiver-hook is in thedepressed condition, the arms E overlap diagonally the ends-of the resetbars, and the act of pushingin a plug causes the reset bar to assume aposition parallel with the adjacent face of the plug and in oppositionto the spring-arm E which is thus forcibly raised, and by its action onthe flat edge of the reset bar holds the latter in such position. Onremoving the receiver the spring A asserts'itself and raises the hook,causing the spring-arm E to slip from the flat edge of the reset bar andassume-a centralposition,'as indicated'by the dotted'lines in Fig. 2,andlie parallel with and between 'the resetbars. The-replacing of thereceiver depresses the hook and causesthe arms E E to sweep along theedges of the metal ends M in opposite directions and engage either orboth reset bars presented and force them against the heads of the plugs.Thus the plugs are'automatically reset by the act of hangin up thereceiver 'andthe wholeconditioned orthe next call.

Another important end attained by the mechanism is the cleaning effectof the edge of the contact-clip R against the surface of the tooth orpoint P As before described, the inward movement ofth'e plug through itsconical end N forces thecontact-spring]. toward its'clip, and thesurface of the point P is caused to wipe across the edge of the clip,tending to insure a'cl'e'an bright surface-best adapted for highconductivity. This cleaning actionis still further extended 'by theresetting movement. The reset bar forces the plug away from the centralstrip, as indicated bythe heavy dottedlines in Fig. 5,'causing the pointP to travel still farther upon the edge of the clip and until theshoulder P passes from thehe'ad N to the conical endN of theplug and thecontact-spring drives the .plug'to the original or inoperativeposition,as shown at the right in Fig. 4"and in'light "do tt'ed lines of'Figf5.Thus each setting and resetting causes the point P to wipe-across thesharp edge of the clip. The scraping" action of the latter 'upon thesurface of the point-P extends not only'tothe'line on such surface towhich su'chedge reaches in making f'GOIIlTSJCl'J, but also as-muchfarther as is caused "by the furth'er movement ofthe point in theresetting movement, and a clean scraped surface at the'point or line ofnormal contact is thus assured.

M is a stop located on the strip M between v the reset bars to preventthe latter approaching each other or folding in thewron'g direction.

The connections at all the stations are simi- 'lar:and, withtheb'attery-circuits 'andlines, are the same as the arrangement shown ina prior application, filed by me June 11,1904, 'Serial No. 212,104,Patent No. 785,728, with which the hereindescribed switch-plug mechanismis especially designed to serve, although it, w ll be understood it maybe employed successfully with other systems and arrangements ofcircuits.

I claim- 1. In a switch-plug mechanism, aplug hav ing a conical end, anda contact-spring having a portion disposed in the path of andconstructed to engage said plug frictionally and hold said plug when thelatter is moved in one direction and to act upon said conical end tocomplete the return movement of said plug.

2. In a switch-plug mechanism, aplughaving a conical end, acontact-spring having a portion disposed in the path of and constructedto engage said plug frictionally and hold said plug when the latter ismoved in one direction and to act upon said conical end to complete thereturn movement of said plug,

and means for initiating such return movement.

3. In a switch-plug mechanism, aplug having a conical end, acontact-spring having a portion disposed in the path of and constructedto engage said plug r'rictionally and hold said plug when the latter ismoved in one direction and to act upon said conical end to complete thereturn movement of said plug, and'means operated by a receiver-hook oranalogous switch for initiating such return movement.

4. In a switch-plug mechanism, a plug having a cylindrical head andconical end, means the plug, and a contact-spring having a portiondisposed in the path of and constructed to engage irictionally with saidhead and hold said plug when the latter is moved in one direction and toact upon said conical end to complete the return movement of said plug,

and means for making and breaking an electric circuit through themovements of said spring.

5. In a switch-plug mechanism, a plug having a cylindrical head andconical end, a contact-spring having a portion disposed in the path ofand constructed to engage frictionally with said head and hold said plugwhen the latter is moved in one direction and to act upon said conicalend to complete the return movement of said plug, means for initiatingsuch return movement, and means for mak ing and breaking an electriccircuit through the movements of said spring.

6. In a switch-plug mechanism, a plug having a cylindrical head andconical end, a contact-spring having a portion disposed in the path ofand constructed to engage frictionally with said head and hold said plugwhen the latter is moved in one direction and to act upon said conicalend to complete the return movement of said plug, means operated by areceiver-hook or analogous switch for initiating such return movement,and means for initiating the return movement of.

for making and breaking an electric circuit through the movements ofsaid spring.

7. In a switch-plug mechanism, a plug having a cylindrical head andconical end, a contact-clip, a contact-spring having a portion disposedin the path of and constructed to engage said head frictionally and holdsaid plug when the latter is moved in one direction and also contactwith said clip, and to act upon said conical end to complete the returnmove= ment of said plug and break such contact, and means for initiatingsuch movement.

8. In a switch-plug mechanism, a series of plugs having each acylindrical head and conical end, a contact-clip for each plug, acontact-spring for each plug having a portion disposed in the path ofand constructed to engage said head Irictionally and hold said plug whenthe latter is moved in one direction and also contact with its clip, andto act upon said conical end to complete the return movement of saidplug and break such contact, a reset bar adapted to act on said heads toinitiate such return movement, and means for actuating said reset bar.

9. In a switch-plug mechanism, a series of plugs arranged in a row, eachhaving a cylindrical head and conical end, a corresponding series ofcontact-springs each bent upon itself to form an angular shoulder and acontactpoint, a series of contact-clips one adjacent to each of saidcontact-points, the said shoulder adapted to engage the head of its plugfrictionally and hold said plug when the latter is moved in onedirection and with its con tact-point in wiping contact with itscontactclip, and to break such contact and act upon said conical end tocomplete the return movement of said plug, a reset bar extending alongsaid row of plugs and adapted to act on said heads to initiate suchreturn movement, and means carried by the receiver-hook or analogousswitch adapted to actuate said reset bar.

10. In combination with a telephone-box having a receiver hook, a seriesof plugs loosely mounted in the casing of said box and extending intothe interior thereof, each of said plugs having a cylindrical head and aconical end, a contact-clip for each plug, a contact-spring for each ofsaid plugs adapted to engage said head frictionally and hold its plugwhen the latter is thrust toward theinterior of said box and makecontact with its clip, and to break such contact and act upon theconical end of its plug to complete the return movement of said plug, areset bar arranged adjacent to said series of plugs and adapted by itsmovement to initiate such re turn movement, and a spring-arm carried bysaid receiver-hook and adapted to move said reset bar when said receiverhook is depressed.

11. In combination with a telephone-box having a receiver-hook, twoseries of plugs loosely mounted in the casing of said box in parallelrows and extending into theinterior of said box, each of said plugshaving a cylindricalhead and conical end, two series of con- -tact-clipsone clip for each plug, two series of contact-springs, one spring foreach plug, each of said contact-springs adapted to engagethe ,head. ofits plug frictionally and hold said plug -movement to initiate suchreturn movement of any plug of its series, and spring-arms carried bysaid receiver, adapted when-said receiver-hook is raised to lie betweensaid reset bars and to move the latter when said receiver-hook isdepressed.

12. In a switch-plug mechanism, a plug ar ranged to be moved axially, acontact-clip, a contact-spring in the path of said plug and adapted tobe moved aside by said plug into wiping contact with said clip, andmeans in the path of said plug and pivoted for moving said pluglaterally toward said clip, whereby the extent of said wiping movementis increased.

13. In a switch-plug mechanism, a plug arranged to be moved axially, acontact-clip, a contact-spring in the path of said plug and adapted tobe moved aside by said plug into wiping contact with said clip, andmeans for lnducing a return movement of said plug and also moving said'plug laterally toward said clip, whereby the extent of such wipingmovement isincreased.

14. In a switch-plug mechanism, a series of plugs, a contact-spring foreach plug, anda contact-clip for each spring, the latter adapted to bemoved intocontact with its clip by an endwise movement of its plug, areset bar common to all the plugs insaid series, are ceiver-hook oranalogous switch, and aspringarm carried by said -hook,-'theconstruction and arrangement being such that when said hook is depressedand a plug pushed insaid reset bar will beheld in an inoperativeposition, when said hook is elevated, said bar will be released, andwhensaid hook is again depressed, said reset bar will be .moved in thedirection to induce a return movement of said plug.

15. In a switch-plug mechanism, two series of plugs arranged in twoparallel rows, 2. contact-spring for each plug and a contactclip foreach spring, the latteradaptedto be moved into contact with its clip byan endwise movement of its plug, two reset bars each common to all theplugs of one series,.-a

receiver-hook or analogous switch, and oppositely-extending spring-armsthereon, each of said arms adapted to actuate one'of said reset bars. I

16. In a switch-plug mechanism, a receiver-hook having a spring-arm, aplug adapted to be moved axially, a contact-clip, and a contact-spring,the said contact-spring serving to hold said plug frictionally at oneend of its movement and -to make contact with said clip, and to completethe return movement of said plug and to break such contact, and a resetbar actuated by said spring-arm, arranged to strike said plug andinitiate such return movement by the depression of said receiver-hook.

In testimony that I claim the invention above set forth I vaflix mysignature in presence of two witnesses.

ADOLPH C. GILGEN.

WVitnesses':

CHAs. A. H-AUoK, CHARLES R. SEARLE.

